**Bridgeview, Illinois** – The Kansas City Current found a late winner to beat the Chicago Red Stars, 2-1, on Friday night at SeatGeek Stadium behind an incredible strike from defender Hailie Mace and an opportune strike from forward Kristen Hamilton.
Following their emphatic win in Houston last week, Chicago seemed eager to continue displaying its high-powered attack early on. The Red Stars hit the post after 8 minutes, but the flag had already gone up for offside though this did not stop them from applying constant pressure on goal.
In the 15 ^th minute, forward Yuki Nagasoto played in midfielder Bianca St Georges toward the byline, but her cross ended up safely in the hands of Current goalkeeper Adrianna Franch.
The direction of the match nearly turned in the 20 ^th minute when Kansas City had a penalty shout the way of midfielder Sam Mewis, but the referee ended up shaking his finger no at the ask and allowed momentum to continue to flow Chicago’s way.
The hosts would end up opening the scoring just two minutes later when Red Stars forward Mallory Pugh surged forward toward the penalty area but was halted by a pair of Current defenders. However, in stopping Pugh, the ball landed at the feet of midfielder Vanessa DiBernardo, who fired on goal and watched as a wicked deflection took the ball well out of the Franch’s grasp and landed in the back of the net to open the scoring.
Chicago nearly doubled their advantage at multiple times throughout the remainder of the first half with Pugh at the center of those efforts. In the 31 ^st minute, the talented forward worked her way down near the endline and despite a tight angle did well to fire on goal and force a good save out of Franch.
Five minutes later, St Georges nearly added Chicago’s second when a ball from Pugh toward the back post found the midfielder, and in stopping the Current from clearing she was able to have a look on goal in the right side of the box. However, her curling effort toward the far post missed by inches and the opportunity went begging.
Finally, a nervy moment in front of the Current goal saw Franch’s attempted clearance careen off Pugh just a few yards out from goal, but the Red Stars were ultimately unable to convert and carried the one-goal lead into the halftime interval.
Heading into the second 45 minutes, Chicago came out again heavy in attack with Pugh nearly scoring twice in the opening seven minutes of the half. First, taking aim at the top of the penalty area, she unleashed a venomous strike that barely rose over the crossbar. Then, in the 52 ^nd minute, Pugh smacked the crossbar on a free kick effort from just to the left outside the top of penalty area as her pursuit of a goal continued.
Turning things around, though, the Current found an equalizer in the 58 ^th minute through a wonderful strike by defender Hailie Mace. With the Red Stars unable to properly clear the ball out of their defensive third, forward Lo’eau Labonta laid the ball off to Mace at the top of the box where the defender thoroughly laced the ball into the top right corner past the diving goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to equalize.
Leaving just over a half hour for either side to break the deadlock, both sides had their fair share of opportunities as the match wore on.
In the 86 ^th minute, though, the Current managed to capitalize on another brilliant bit of play by Hailie Mace and take a late lead. Seeking a second goal of the evening, Mace ripped a shot from just outside of the box into a Red Stars defender, but the ball fell right back into her path. Having the presence of mind to lift the ball over the backline and find teammate Kristen Hamilton, the forward finished with power in her one-on-one with Naeher to give the visitors an unexpected late lead.
Chicago did their best to attempt to find a late leveler and had a great look just ahead of stoppage time. Mallory Pugh stood over a free kick opportunity just a few yards outside the area and whipped in a well-placed ball to the back post for defender Kayla Sharples, but she couldn’t get her foot on it to test Franch.
In the end, Hamilton’s late heroics coupled with Mace’s wondergoal delivered all three points to the Current as they head home to Kansas City with the win. The result sees Kansas City jump Chicago to the top of the Central Division with the Red Stars sitting second on goal differential.

Match Highlights

Match Highlights